The College Board’s Advanced Placement Precalculus course, which became available in the 2023-24 school year, marked the organization’s most popular course launch ever.
More than 184,000 students worldwide took the course exam in its first year, and 76% of them scored a 3 or higher on a 1-5 scale, making them eligible for college credit.
School leaders say AP Precalculus has helped give more students access to college-level math—especially those not on the calculus track. They say it offers a more affordable alternative to some dual-enrollment programs, and in some cases, the course has reshaped how math teachers teach Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and geometry.
To better understand how AP Precalculus expanded access to advanced math coursework, the College Board published a report breaking down student participation in the course’s first year.
Here are some of the findings about who took AP Precalculus in its inaugural year and how much of a difference it made for overall participation in AP courses.
The College Board saw an increase in participation from key student demographics
According to the College Board, AP Precalculus was offered a bit more in city and suburban high schools (34% and 37%, respectively) than in rural areas and towns (20% and 8%, respectively).
Schools with larger student enrollments were more likely to offer AP Precalculus than schools with smaller student bodies.
To see if the new course expanded student access to advanced math courses, the organization compared the demographics of students taking the AP Precalculus exam (both overall and for 12th grade students) with those taking other AP math exams.
These demographics include students who attend “higher-challenge” schools, students who attend schools in rural and town areas, and students who identify as Black, Hispanic, and first-generation college goers. Higher challenge, as defined by the College Board, is a “composite index based on six indicators of educational opportunity at the census tract level: college attendance, household structure, median family income, housing stability, education level, and crime rates.”
In its inaugural year, AP Precalculus attracted a higher percentage of students from all these demographic groups compared with those who took AP Calculus AB and AP Statistics. In the last two years, AP Calculus AB and AP Statistics were among the top 10 most requested AP exams overall.
AP Precalculus became many students’ only AP STEM exam
To better assess the unique role AP Precalculus played in providing students access to advanced math work in high school, the College Board looked at students’ prior exposure to AP STEM exams. They specifically looked at the percentage of AP exam-takers with no prior or concurrent AP STEM exams.
The organization found that AP Precalculus was the first AP STEM exam for a significantly higher percentage of students who attend higher-challenge high schools and schools in rural and town areas, as well as for first-generation, Black, and Hispanic students, compared with students taking other AP math exams.
For many high school seniors, AP Precalculus served as their first and only engagement with an AP STEM exam before high school graduation, the College Board’s report says.
AP Precalculus contributed to continued engagement with AP courses
The College Board also reviewed the course’s impact on students who were able to take it prior to their senior year.
The organization found that 60% of AP Precalculus exam-takers enrolled in AP Calculus (AB or BC) the following year, 78% enrolled in any AP STEM course, and 87% enrolled in at least one AP course in any subject area.
Similar trajectories were found among students with no prior or concurrent AP exams at the time they took AP Precalculus: 48% enrolled in AP Calculus the following year, 62% enrolled in any AP STEM class, and 70% enrolled in at least one AP course in any subject area.
Teachers surveyed by the College Board reported feeling that the course was rigorous but accessible to all students.
